Ductor roll controlling mechanism



April 27, 1954 jw. FAEBER nuc'roa ROLL CONIROLLING MECHANISM 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 14, 1950 INVENTOR. HARRY w. FAEBER HISATTORNEYS.

April 1954 H; w. FAEBER DUCTOR ROLL CONTROLLING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Jan. 14, 1950 .m winin j w l I I/ I l i INVENTOR. HARRY W.FAEBER 2,74! 9- $4M HIS ATTORNEYS.

April 7, 1954 H. w. FAEBER 2,676,540

DUCTOR ROLL. CONTROLLING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 14,1950 3 SheetsSheet 3 T0IMPRESSION THROW-OFF SYSTEM POWER SUPPLY IN VEN TOR. WAR/2v W 515552 ATTORNEVS chine.

Patented Apr. 27, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,676,540 DUCTOR aoLLCONTROLLING MECHANISM Harry W. Faeber, Larchmont, N. Y., assignor toTime, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication January 14,- 1950, Serial No. 138,617

for controlling the lateral movement of a ductor roll for a printingpress or paper coating nia- It has become conventional practice to mountductor rolls on oscillating arms. In modern high speed printing presses,ductor rolls so mounted must necessarily oscillate at high frequencies."(In practice it has been found that ductor rolls mounted on armsoscillating at high frequencies have a tendency to bounce from theadjacent distributor or fountain roll instead of making 'firm contactwith them.

In accordance with the present invention, a ductor roll is mounted forrotation and for lateral movement back and forth between a firstterminal position, in which the ductor r011 makes contact with afountain roll, and a second termi- --na1 position, in which the ductorroll makes contact with a distributor roll. In addition, means areprovided for releasably locking the ductorg roll against lateralmovement and thereby interrupting the transfer of ink or the like from afountain roll to a distributor roll.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention,

each end of the ductor roll shaft is mounted-for rotation in a bearingwhich in turn is eccentri- -cally mounted in a housing that isadjustably secured to a stationary frame member of -:the machine, i. e.,the ductor roll bearing is movable about an axis in the housing that isparallel to but laterally displaced from the axis of rotation of theductor roll. The ductor roll bearing is mounted on an eccentric shaftmember inthe housing and, during the operation of themachine, the shaftmember is rocked back and forth through an angle of substantially 180 bythe .By positioning the axis of the eccentric shaft I in such a mannerthat it lies in a plane of reference intersecting both terminalpositions of-the ductor roll bearing and the axes of the adjacentfountain and distributor rolls, the ductor roll is momentarily lockedagainst bouncing when it I makes contact with either of the two adjacentrolls.

A locking device is provided to selectively lock the eccentric shaftmember against rotation on its own axis of rotation when the axis ofrotation 6 Claims. (o1. 101,-351) 2 of the ductor roll isnear theterminal position adjacent the distributor roll. While the eccentricshaft member is so locked, thetransfer of ink or the like will beinterrupted. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, means areprovided automatically to actuate the locking device when, e. g., theweb to be printed or coated is broken or the impression system is throwninto the off position. Upon release of the locking device, the ductorroll will be free to oscillate laterally between the distributor rolland the ductor roll.

One advantage of the present invention is that it provides anoscillating ductor roll mechanism that effectively and momentarily locksthe ductor roll against lateral movement in each of its terminalpositions and therefore insures firm contact with adjacent rolls andprevents objectionable bouncing.

Another advantage is that it provides a mechanism for automatically ormanually interrupting the lateral movement of an oscillating ductor rolland consequently, of interrupting the transfer of ink or other materialfrom a fountain roll to a distributor roll.

A further advantage is that it provides a mechanism for moving a ductorroll back and forth for alternate contact with a fountain roll and adistributor roll wherein the speed of lateral movement of the ductorroll follows a harmonic curve and the ductor roll is thus eased into a1-ternate contact with the adjacent rolls.

One embodiment of the mechanism of this invention is illustrated, by wayof example only, in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the device as mounted on one side of theframe only;

Figure 2 is a part sectional view in elevation of the mechanismillustrated in Figure 1 taken along section line 2-2;

Figure 3 is a detailed end view in elevation of the bearing for a ductorroll;

Figure 4 is apart sectional end view in elevation taken along sectionline 4--4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a sectional view in elevation take on section line 5-5 ofFigure 1; and

Figure 6 is a schematic illustration of an auto matic control system foractuating the locking device.

While the following description of the invention with reference to thedrawing describes a preferred embodiment of the mechanism as it isapplied to one side of the machine, it is to be .understood that, asimilar device will be utilized at the other side of the machine tosupport the other end of the ductor roll. The description of theinvention will be confined to one of these mechanisms only in order toavoid unnecessary duplication.

Referring now to the drawing, one end of a ductor roll I is shownsupported in a split journal ductor roll bearing I having an eccentricshaft member I2 extending into a housing I4 secured aidjustably to aframe member I5 by bolts I'I passing through slots IS in the base of thehousing. One end of a lateral adjusting screw 21 is in threadedengagement with the housing I4 at 22 and the other end is provided witha flange member 23 and hexagonal head member 24- rotatably securedagainst axial movement relative to the frame member I6 by means of abracket 26.

The shaft member I2 of the ductor roll bearing I I is mounted forrotation in the housing Hand,

one end thereof is provided with a gear 21 that meshes with thespur-gear 23 of; an idler shaft s -A pinion 3! keyed by key 32 to theauxiliary Shaft 36 is in meshing engagement with a springbiased rack 34slideable vertically in'the housing I4 and actuated by a rocker arm 36attached to a rocker shaft 31-.

, The lower end of the rack 34 is provided with a moose 38 engageable,when the rack is just belowits upper terminal position, by a lockingfinger 39 pivoted ona stud 40 and actuated by a springbiased control rod4| provided with spring 42, a washer 43, a stop 44, a pair of notches 4Gand 41, ,and a knob 48. To allow the finger 39 to enter the recess 38,the relationship of the recess to the rack 34 is such that the top ofthe recess 38 is slightly-above the engagement-position with the lockingfinger when ductor roll I6 is in contact with the distributor roll. Theclearance between the recess 38 and the finger 39, whilein engagement,is sufficient to permit the rocker arm 36 to move t'oits uppermostposition in 'a succeeding stroke without subjecting any of the workingto excessive stress. The rod 4| is movable through a guard member 48having a fixed plate 50 adapted to engage with the notches 46 and 41.

.- a In operation, each end of 'theshaft IIlaof the ductor roll I3 isrotatably secured in the split journal bearing II by tightening the wingnut "56 to close the cap552., If itis desired toistop the oscillatingmotion of thegductor-roll til for interrupting the ink ifeed, notch-411slifted out of engagement with plate it by: means of .kndb348. .Then,when the-rack 34 is just below its 'uppermost position, as shown inphantom in Figure 4, the control rod 4| is urged, by spring .42, toengage the finger 39 with the'recess 38 so as to prevent urthersubstantial eccentric movement of the ductor roll bearing I I about thelongitudinal axis of the shaft member I2, the clearance between thefinger 39 and the top and bottom'of the recess -38 being sufficient,however, to permit the rocker 'arm 36 to continue its motion withoutsubjecting any of the parts to excessive stress or damage.

, .TIIh control rod M will then be-lockd in'the pos iati'on shown-inphantom in'Figuresrrsnd zby en- 4 gagement of the plate 50 with therecess 46. When the locking finger 39 is disengaged from the recess 38by disengaging notch 46 and moving the control rod 4| to engage with theother notch 41, the rack 34 and the ductor roll II) are free to resumetheir respective motions.

When the machine is set into operation, the rockershaft 31 actingthrough rocker arm 36 in cooperation with the spring 62 acting on therack 34 will cause the rack to reciprocate in a vertical direction. Thegear teeth 35 on the rack 34 engage with the pinion 3I of the auxiliaryshaft 30 to impart a rocking motion thereto and the gear 29 on saidauxiliary shaft 30 engages with the I gear 2''! on the shaft member I2so as to transmit the rocking motion to the ductor roll bearing II.. Dueto the eccentricity of the ductor roll bearing relative to the shaftmember I2, the cen ter line of the ductor roll will be displacedlaterally from one side of the center line of the shaft member to theother and so on so that the ductor roll will come into alternate contactwith the fountain roll BI and the distributor roll In the preferredembodiment, the eccentric shaft member I2 is rocked back and forththrough an angle of substantially 180 so that the axis of the ductorroll will lie in a plane of reference intersecting the axe of the shaftmember I2, the distributor roll and, the fountain roll when the ductorroll reaches a terminal position adjacent either of the other rolls. Theshaft member I2 is therefore directly in line with reaction forceapplied to the ductor roll when it makes contact with an adjacent rolland thereby momentarily locks the ductor roll against bouncing.

It is within the scope of this invention to actuate the lockingmechanism automatically so that the transfer of ink or other liquid willbev interrupted immediately upon interruption of the printing operationfor any reason. One embodiment of an apparatus to accomplish thisdesirable result is illustrated in Figure 6. In this arrangement,wherein a plate cylinder, impression cylinder and Web, are shownschematically and designated by reference numerals B2, 64 and 65,respectively, a Web follower 61, mounted on a lever I53 of a web breakdetector switch pivoted at I0, is urged by a spring 1| tobear againstthe moving web 56. The control rod 4Ia, which is slideably -mounted in afixed guard member 49a or the like, i normally urged in an inwardlydirection by a compression spring 42a hearing at one'end against member491'; and at the other against a collar 44a secured to the rod. If theweb 66 should break, the spring H will cause the lever arm 69 to rotatein a clockwise direction about the fulcrum "l0 and open'an electricalcircuit to deenergize a solenoid l2 'andthereby releasethe rod 4Ia for'-r'n'ovement' inwardly under the influence of the compression spring 42a and urge the finger-'33 to engage thereces's and thereby lock thcductor "roll against furtlie'rsubstantial lateral motion.

When the web is replaced in operative position, the circuit is closedagain by the web detector switch and the solenoid 12 is energized towithdraw the finger 39 from engagement with the recess 38L If, on theother hand, the printing opera- "tion is halted for any reason bywithdrawing the mechanism'herein described may .be alte'redpr m'odifi'edconsiderably without departing from the scope of this invention. Thus,for example, the

eccentric mechanism need not necessarily be rocked through an angle ofsubstantially 180, the rack and pinion arrangement may be replaced by asuitable crank and pin arrangement and the electrical system illustratedin Figure 6 may be replaced" by any other suitable actuating system suchas an air or hydraulically operated system. All such modifications andalterations are intended to be included within the scope of thisinvention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Ductor roll controlling mechanism comprising a housing, a shaftrotatable in the housing, a ductor: roll bearing member mountedeccentrically on the shaft for movement back and forth between twoterminal positions, the axis of the shaft lying in a plane of referenceintersecting both terminal positions of the bearing member, a rackreciprocable in the housing, gear means connecting the shaft and therack for rocking the shaft to move the bearing member from one terminalposition to the other, a movable finger adjacentthe rack, and a recessin the rack engageable by the movable finger for releasably locking thebearing member adjacent one of its terminal positions.

2. Ductor roll controlling mechanism c0mprising a housing, a shaftrotatable in the housing, a

bearing member for supporting a ductor roll for rotation on an axisparallel to the axis of the shaft, said bearing member being mountedeccentrically on the shaft, means for rocking the shaft to move thebearing member back and forth between two terminal positions and in adirection perpendicular to the axis of the shaft, and means forreleasably locking the shaft against rocking when the bearing member isadjacent one of its" terminal positions, said releasable locking meanscomprising a member spring-biased for engaging with the rocking meansreleasably to lock the shaft against rocking in the housing, said membernormally being maintained out of engagement with the rocking means by anenergized electromagnetic means, and a web follower spring biased toride on a web under tension, said web follower being adapted, upon arelease in tension of the web, to open the circuit energizing theelectro-" for rotation on an axis parallel to the axis of v the shaft,said bearing member being mounted eccentrically on the shaft formovement about the shaft; means for rocking the shaft to move thebearing member back and forth between the first and second contactpositions of the ductor roll, the axes of the shaft, the ductor roll andone of the fountain and distributor rolls lying in a plane of referencewhen the ductor roll is in contact position with said one of thefountain and distributor rolls; and means for releasably locking theshaft against rocking when the ductor roll is in one of its first andsecond contact positions.

4. Control mechanism for a ductor roll movable laterally between a firstcontact position with a fountain roll and a second contact position witha distributor roll, which comprises a housing; a shaft rotatable in thehousing; a bearing member for supporting the ductor roll for rotation onan axis parallel to the axis of the shaft, said bearing member beingmounted eccentrically on the shaft for'movement about the shaft; a rackreciprocable in the housing; gear means connecting the shaft and therack for rocking the shaft to move the bearing memberback and forthbetween the first and second contact positions of the ductor roll, theaxes of the shaft, the ductor roll and one of the fountain anddistributor rolls lying in a plane of reference when the ductor roll isin contact position with said one of the fountain and distributor rolls;a movable finger adjacent the rack; and a recess in the rack engageableby the movable finger for releasably locking the bearing member adjacentone of the contact positions of the ductor roll.

5. Control mechanism for a ductor roll movable laterally between a firstcontact position with a fountain roll and a second contact position witha distributor roll, which comprises a housing; a shaft rotatable in thehousing; a bearing member for supporting the ductor roll for rotation onan axis parallel to the axis of the shaft, said bearing member beingmounted eccentrically on the shaft for movement about the shaft; meansfor rocking the shaft to move the bearing memher back and forth betweenthe first and second contact positions of the ductor roll, the axes ofthe shaft, the ductor roll, the fountain roll and the distributor rolllying in a plane of reference when the ductor roll is in contactposition with one of the fountain and distributor rolls; and means forreleasably locking the shaft against rocking when the ductor roll is inone of its first and second contact positions.

6. Control mechanism for a ductor roll movable laterally between a firstcontact position with a fountain roll and a second contact position witha distributor roll, which comprises a housing; a shaft rotatable in thehousing; a bearing member for supporting the ductor roll for rotation onan axis parallel to the axis of the shaft, said bearing member beingmounted eccentrically on the shaft for movement about the shaft; a rackreciprocable in the housing; gear means connecting the shaft and therack for rocking the shaft to move the bearing member back and forthbetween the first and second contact positions of the ductor roll, theaxes of the shaft, the ductor roll, the fountain roll and thedistributor roll lying in a plane of reference when the ductor roll isin contact position with one of the fountain and distributor rolls; amovable finger adjacent the rack; and a recess in the rack engageable bythe movable finger for releasably locking the bearing member adjacentone of the contact positions of the ductor roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 441,790 Cox Dec. 2, 1890 1,383,945 Henderson July 5, 19211,809,632 Lang June 9, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 168,173Great Britain Sept. 1, 1921

